BLISWORTH
Blidesworde (xi cent.); Bliseworthe (xii cent.);
Bledesworth, Blithesworth (xiii cent.); Blysworth,
Bleseworth (xiv cent.).
The parish of Blisworth covers 1,980 acres; the soil
varies from a strong clay to a light mixed soil and towards the wood a black loam. The parish abounds
with limestone and ironstone; large quantities of the
latter have been removed for the ore. The land yields
excellent crops. The population is close on 800. A
railway station on the main line of the L.M.S. lies
about three-quarters of a mile from the village. For
ten years (until the branch line was constructed under
the act of 1843) Blisworth was the station for Northampton. The Grand Union Canal runs through Blisworth
and passes to the neighbouring parish of Stoke Bruerne
through a tunnel 1¾ miles in length. This tunnel was
built in 1806 and the contractor—who was known as
'Barnes of Banbury'—was a man who could neither
read nor write; he carried out all his calculations and
estimates by strength of memory.
The village contains many 17th- and early-18thcentury houses, mostly of mingled freestone and ironstone, with thatched or slated roofs. A barn with
steep-pitched roof at the east end of the village has a
panel in the gable inscribed '1663 G.B.' A few of the
houses retain their mullioned windows, but in most
cases the windows have been altered.
There is a Baptist chapel in the village, built in
1825, a residence for the minister and a graveyard
being added in 1865, and a lecture hall in 1885.
Manor
At the time of the Domesday Survey
William Peverel held 3½ hides in BLISWORTH. (fn. 1) On his death in 1114 the land
passed to his son William Peverel, who held at the time
of the Northamptonshire Survey. (fn. 2) He forfeited his
lands for treason, and at Michaelmas 1157 the king
granted to Robert de Peissi land in Blisworth and Newbottle of the annual value of £43. (fn. 3) In 1181 his son
Robert held Blisworth, (fn. 4) but the next year he was succeeded by William son of Robert. (fn. 5) In 1189 Richard I
granted the overlordship of Blisworth to his brother John
Count of Mortain, who held the manor until 1194 when
the king resumed possession of the honor of Peverel.
At that time Matthew de Clere held Newbottle and Blisworth, of the yearly value of £43. (fn. 6) In 1199 the king
granted to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, the grandson of Margaret, heiress of William Peverel the younger,
the overlordship of the hundred of Higham, Blisworth,
and Newbottle, in return for the payment of 2,000
marks. (fn. 7) Isabel, widow of Robert de Peissi, sued the
Earl of Ferrers for these estates, but the case was dismissed as Isabel had no right in the land except by her
husband, who had it by grant of Henry II when the
honor of Peverel was in his hands. (fn. 8) William de
Ferrers died in 1247 and was succeeded by his son
William Earl of Derby, who died in 1254 leaving a
son Robert, who was born in 1239. He received livery
of his lands in 1260 but forfeited them six years later,
when the honor of Peverel was granted to Edmund
Earl of Lancaster, and became incorporated in the
duchy of Lancaster.
Wake. Or two bars gules with three roundels gules in the chief.
William Earl of Derby granted the manor of Blisworth and the advowson of the church to William
Briwerre, to be held as half a fee, the grant being confirmed by King John in 1199. (fn. 9) The next year Briwerre was given leave to assart 60 acres of woodland
at Blisworth. (fn. 10) In 1212 he was granted timber from the
forest of Leicestershire to build a cellar and chamber at
Blisworth, (fn. 11) and the following year had a licence to
cultivate 30 acres more woodland, quit of the regard. (fn. 12)
In 1220 he was granted 24 trunks for posts and squared
beams and 2 crooks from Salcey Forest for rebuilding
his houses at Blisworth. (fn. 13) On his death in 1227 the
manor descended to his son William, who died in 1232,
Blisworth being allotted to his widow Joan in dower. (fn. 14)
The next year the manor was assigned to William de
Percy in the name of his daughters, the coheirs of a fifth
of the property of William Briwerre. (fn. 15) Joan seems to
have retained possession of the
manor, however, which descended
on her death in 1265 (fn. 16) to Sir Baldwin Wake, the grandson of Isabel
de Briwerre, sister and coheir of
William and wife of Baldwin
Wake of Bourne. He took part
with the barons against Henry
III, for which offence the king
granted his manor of Blisworth
to Alan Plugenet, who held it in
1266. (fn. 17) Sir Baldwin probably
redeemed it under the award of
Kenilworth, and held view of frankpledge and other
privileges there in 1276. (fn. 18)
Sir Baldwin is said to have died on 4 February
1282, (fn. 19) and on 20 July the king committed the manor,
which was valued at £32 8s., to Philip Burnel. (fn. 20) Baldwin's son and heir John by his second wife, Hawise de
Quincy, being a minor, the king granted the custody of
his lands in Northamptonshire to Edmund Earl of
Cornwall, on 27 October 1282. (fn. 21) The next year
Hawise Wake brought an action against the earl claiming that she and her husband had been seised of the
manor jointly, but the case was dismissed as the joint
conveyance had not been properly carried out. (fn. 22) John
came of age in January 1295, (fn. 23) and before his death in
1300 enfeoffed his uncle Sir Hugh Wake of Deeping
in the half fee in Blisworth, reserving to himself the
advowson of the church and an annual rent of £10
from the manor. (fn. 24) On his death in 1315 (fn. 25) Sir Hugh
Wake was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was
granted free warren in Blisworth on 22 February
1330. (fn. 26) In the same year he defended his right to
view of frankpledge in the manor. (fn. 27) He married
Elizabeth daughter and heir of Hugh Cransley, and
was succeeded about 1346 (fn. 28) by his son Sir Thomas
Wake, the husband of Alice sister and co-heir of William
de Pateshull. (fn. 29) He was living in September 1379, (fn. 30)
but probably died soon after, leaving Blisworth to his
wife for her lifetime. On her death in 1398 she was
succeeded by her grandson Thomas, the eldest surviving son of her son Thomas, (fn. 31) who had died in August
1383. (fn. 32) He was married to Margaret Philipot, the
sister of Sir John Philipot, citizen and grocer of London, to whom Richard II had granted the lands and
marriage of Sir Thomas Wake's heir in September
1383. (fn. 33) Thomas Wake died before 1425, and the
manor passed to his son Thomas, who was then about
23 years old. (fn. 34) He married Agnes daughter and heir
of Thomas Lovell of Clevedon, Somerset, and died on
10 September 1458, (fn. 35) being succeeded by his son
Thomas, who was born about 1434. By his first wife,
whose name is not known, he had two or three sons,
the eldest of whom, Roger, succeeded him on his death
in May 1476. (fn. 36) As a follower of Richard III he was
attainted by Henry VII, his manor of Blisworth being
granted to Sir James Blount. (fn. 37) His lands were subsequently restored by Act of Parliament in 1487. (fn. 38) He
died 16 March 1504 leaving the manor of Blisworth
to his wife Elizabeth daughter of Sir William Catesby
of Ashby Ledgers, during her lifetime. (fn. 39) She then married Sir John Grey, fourth son of Thomas Marquess of
Dorset, and was succeeded by her son Thomas Wake,
who sold Blisworth manor to Sir Richard Knightley
of Fawsley in 1522 or 1523. (fn. 40) Sir Richard died in
December 1535 leaving Blisworth to his younger son
Sir Edmund Knightley and Ursula his wife. (fn. 41) They
granted the manor to Henry VIII in 1542, in exchange
for other property, (fn. 42) and it was incorporated in the
newly created honour of Grafton. (fn. 43) The stewardship
of the manor was granted to Sir John Williams in 1545. (fn. 44)
Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton. The arms of King Charles II with the difference of a sinister baston gobony argent and azure.
In 1592 or 1593 the site of the manor was granted
to Thomas Andrew of Charwelton, (fn. 45) whose grandson
Thomas was living there in
1618. (fn. 46) In 1628 Blisworth, with
ten other manors, was conveyed
to Sir Francis Crane, the manager
of the Mortlake tapestry works,
as security for a loan of £7,500
advanced to the Crown. (fn. 47) Seven
years later the site of the manor
was leased to Sir Robert Cooke
for a period of thirty-one years. (fn. 48)
In a survey of Crown estates
made in 1660 Blisworth is noted
as containing 894½ acres of arable
land, 405 acres of pasture, and
no meadowland. (fn. 49) On the expiration of Cooke's lease in 1665 Charles II granted
the manor with much other property to Denzil Lord
Hollis, Philip Earl of Chesterfield, and five others. (fn. 50)
In 1673, however, Blisworth was given by the king to
Henry Earl of Arlington, with remainder to his son-inlaw Henry Fitzroy, (fn. 51) who succeeded on his death in
1685. He was created Duke of Grafton in 1675, and
Blisworth remained in the hands of his descendants
until 1919, when most of the Northamptonshire estates
of the Dukes of Grafton were sold.
Church
The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST consists of chancel, 30 ft. 4 m. by 18 ft. 8 in.; clerestoried
nave, 61 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 8 in.; north
and south aisles, 11 ft. 6 in. wide; north
porch, and west tower, 9 ft. 10 in. by 9
ft. 6 in., all these measurements being internal. The
north aisle is the full length of the five bays of the nave,
but the south aisle (fn. 52) is of three bays only. The width
across nave and aisles is 47 ft. 2 in.
The building generally is of roughly coursed limestone, mingled in the tower with local ironstone. The
roofs of the chancel and nave are slated, those of the
aisles leaded, and the porch is covered with modern
tiles. There are straight parapets to the chancel and
aisles: the nave roof overhangs. Internally, except in
the tower, all the walls are plastered.
The church was restored in 1855–6 when a gallery
was removed and the pews converted into open benches,
and in 1871 the floors were paved with encaustic tiles.
The south aisle was rebuilt in 1926.
The chancel and the three eastern bays of the nave
belong to a late-13th-century aisled church, the nave
and north aisle of which were extended westward, the
aisle being rebuilt, and perhaps widened, about 1320–
30. The tower followed later in the 14th century.
The south aisle appears to be its original width, having
a chapel at its east end separated from the rest by a
13th-century transverse arch, and roofed at right angles
to the nave with a gable to the south. The north and
south (fn. 53) doorways are also of 13th-century date with
edge rolls. With the exception of the porch, which seems
to have been added or rebuilt in the 15th century,
no further change in the plan was subsequently made.
In the 15 th century, however, new windows were
inserted in the chancel and the clerestory erected or
reconstructed.
The chancel is of two bays and has two 13th-century
windows on the south side, the south wall being substantially of that period, but in the 14th century the
east and north walls were either wholly rebuilt or refaced. The pointed five-light east window has tracery
of an unusual type, (fn. 54) which is probably of this date, and
the angle buttresses are placed diagonally: a chamfered
plinth and string occur only on the north and east. On
the north side the two bays are equal, each containing
a 15th-century pointed window of three cinquefoiled
lights with vertical tracery, and a blocked doorway in
the western bay, but on the south side the bays are
unequal in size. Of the two earlier pointed windows
in the south wall the easternmost is of two uncusped
pointed lights with a trefoiled circle in the head, and
has double-chamfered jambs and a hood-mould. In
character it is earlier than the other, which is also of
two lights but with a forked mullion and the jambs
have an outer hollow chamfer; but the whole of the
earlier work in the church is of a type that seems to
have prevailed in Northamptonshire from about 1260
to 1300 and even later, which it is difficult to date
accurately without documentary evidence. Further
west, its sill considerably higher than the others, is an
inserted 15th-century three-light window like those
opposite, and at a lower level in the south-west angle
of the chancel a plain rectangular low-side window,
now blocked. (fn. 55) In the wall opposite, at the north-west
angle, is a smaller blocked low-side opening of 15thcentury date, with trefoiled head and rectangular hoodmould, splaying widely to the east inside. (fn. 56) The late13th-century piscina has a plain double hollowchamfered recess and projecting fluted bowl supported
by a shaft with moulded capital. There are no sedilia.
At the south-west angle of the chancel is a squint, now
blocked, from the aisle. (fn. 57) The low, widespread chancel
arch is a 14th-century reconstruction contemporary
with the western extension of the nave; it is of two
chamfered orders, the inner on half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and bases. There is a good 15thcentury oak chancel screen with traceried openings,
plain bottom panels, and moulded top. The stalls have
been much restored. The baluster altar rails are apparently of late-17th-century date. The chancel roof is
modern. (fn. 58) The 15th-century rood-loft stair remains
in a very perfect condition on the north side of the
chancel arch at the east end of the nave arcade, the wall
being thickened for the purpose. The lower doorway
is four-centred, and the upper one square-headed with
a battlemented moulding. (fn. 59)
Plan of Blisworth Church
The late-13th-century south arcade of the nave consists of three pointed arches of two chamfered orders,
with hood-mould on each side, springing from octagonal pillars with moulded capitals and bases and
from responds of similar character. The bases have a
double roll, except that of the west respond which is
not moulded, and the capitals differ slightly in detail,
that of the westernmost pillar having a band of small
trefoils and quatrefoils below the abacus. The three
corresponding arches of the slightly earlier north arcade
are of the same general character, but the bases are
chamfered and on square plinths and the capitals are
less in height. When the arcade was extended westward the old respond was re-used and two new pillars
and arches erected. The new bays carried on the
general design, but the mouldings of the capitals and
bases indicate their later date.
The south aisle is without buttresses, and though
rebuilt preserves much of its former character. The
arch dividing the chapel at its east end from the rest of
the aisle is of two chamfered orders, springing from the
easternmost pier of the arcade and from a respond with
moulded capital. The chapel is lighted at the south end
by a large square-headed window of five lights with
moulded jambs and mullions, (fn. 60) below which, inside, is
a late wall recess with flat moulded ogee arch. (fn. 61) A
former piscina has disappeared. The aisle is also lighted
by a modern pointed two-light window, to the west
of which is the doorway. In the south wall of the nave,
between the aisle and the tower, is a pointed window
originally of three lights the mullions of which have
been removed.
The north aisle has a small diagonal buttress at the
north-west angle, and is lighted by three windows in
the north wall and one at each end. The east window
is square-headed and of three trefoiled lights, apparently
a 15th-century insertion, and that at the west end is
also square-headed but of two lights, and it has been
altered and the lower part blocked. The small pointed
window in the north wall west of the porch is of two
trefoiled lights with double-chamfered jambs and hoodmould, but the mullions of the two larger ones east of
the porch have been renewed. The late-13th-century
pointed doorway has a continuous moulding. The east
end of the aisle is screened off for a vestry.
The porch has a high-pitched roof with a coped
gable at each end, standing above the aisle roof, and a
pointed outer arch with continuous mouldings; in the
gable above is a stone inscribed 'a.d. 1607, w.d., c.m.'
The clerestory has three widely spaced four-centred
windows of two cinquefoiled lights on each side, placed
without respect to the arches below. The modern
timber roof of the nave is of six bays.
The tower is of three stages divided by strings, with
moulded plinth and pairs of four-stage buttresses at
its western angles reaching to the top of the second
stage, above which there are small diagonal buttresses.
In the bottom stage is a restored pointed west window
of two trefoiled lights, but the north and south sides
are blank. The middle stage has a small trefoiled opening on each side, that on the north now covered by a
clock dial, and the pointed bell-chamber windows are
of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in the head.
The tower terminates in a battlemented parapet without pinnacles. There is no vice. The pointed arch to
the nave is of two continuous chamfered orders with
hood-mould on the east side and a single order on the
west.
The font is ancient and consists of a plain circular
bucket-shaped bowl (fn. 62) on a cylindrical pedestal and base,
and octagonal step. (fn. 63)
The wooden pulpit is modern. The royal arms of
George III (before 1801) are over the tower arch.
There are portions of medieval glass in the tracery
of the north-west window of the chancel. (fn. 64)
The table tomb of Roger Wake (d. 1503–4) and
his wife Elizabeth Catesby is below the south window
of the chapel, in front of the arched wall recess, and is
of freestone with a Purbeck marble slab on top. The
sides are panelled with shields of arms. On the slab
are the brasses of Roger and his wife, with groups
of seven sons and three daughters below, a shield in
each angle, and a brass inscription round the verge as
follows: 'Here lyeth Roger Wake Esquyer Lorde of
Blysworthe in the countie of Northampton and Elyzabeth his wyffe . . . which Roger decessyd the xvj day
of March the yere of our Lord God Mo ccccciij, on
whose soule Ihū have m'cy.' (fn. 65)
In the chancel are wall monuments to Margaret
Blackey (fn. 66) (d. 1673) and Rebeckah Yates (d. 1679),
wife of Jonathan Yates, rector. In the nave is a memorial
to twenty-three men of the parish who fell in the war
of 1914–18.
There is a scratch dial on the west jamb of the lowside window on the south side of the chancel.
There is a ring of five bells, the second and third
by Bartholomew Atton of Buckingham 1624, the fourth
by Henry Bagley III 1713, and the first and fifth by
Thomas Eayre of Kettering 1758. (fn. 67)
The plate consists of a cup of 1570, a 17th-century
paten (c. 1636), a cup and paten of 1845, an alms dish
of 1846, and a flagon of 1870. (fn. 68)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1545-January 1703–4; (ii) baptisms and burials
Sept. 1705–71, marriages till 1753; (iii) marriages
1754–1812; (iv) baptisms and burials 1772–1812.
The entries in the first volume are imperfect till about
1557.
On the north side of the church, by the path leading
to the porch, are the steps and socket-stone of a churchyard cross. (fn. 69)
Advowson
The right of presentation to the
church was granted to William Briwerre by the Earl of Derby, and confirmed by King John in 1199. The advowson passed
with the manor to Sir Baldwin Wake on the death
of Joan Briwerre. When his son John conveyed the
manor to his uncle Hugh Wake he retained the advowson and the rent of £10 from the manor. The
advowson and rent passed to his sister and heir
Margaret, wife of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of
Kent, whose son John Earl of Kent died seised of them
in 1352. (fn. 70) His heir was his sister Joan, 'the Fair
Maid of Kent', wife of Sir Thomas de Holand and
secondly of Edward Prince of Wales. She died in
1385 seised of the rent and advowson, (fn. 71) which passed
to her son Thomas de Holand, Earl of Kent. He died
in 1397, (fn. 72) and his son Thomas was charged with high
treason in 1399. The advowson had, however, been
assigned to his mother Alice in dower in 1398 and she
died in possession of it in 1416. (fn. 73) Her heirs were her
five grand-daughters; one of these was Eleanor Countess
of March, who predeceased her, leaving as heir a son
Edmund Earl of March, who died seised of one fifth
of the advowson in 1425 leaving three co-heirs; (fn. 74)
but Joan, widow of Thomas Earl of Kent, died in
possession of the advowson in 1442, held in dower
by assignment of the heirs of Alice. Her heir was
Humphrey Earl of Stafford, her brother's son. (fn. 75)
The advowson probably reverted to the crown when
his great grandson Edward Duke of Buckingham,
Earl of Stafford, was attainted in 1523. The advowson was granted to Sir Christopher Hatton
in May 1579, (fn. 76) and remained in the possession of
his family until the 19th century. The living was in
the gift of the Rev. W. Barry, the rector of Blisworth,
and his descendants from 1839 to 1930, but was
then acquired by the governors of Canford School,
Dorset.
Charities
In 1504 Roger Wake left some land
in Bedfordshire for the foundation of
a chantry in the chapel of St. Mary the
Virgin, the chaplain of which was also to keep a free
grammar school in the village. The school was called
Roger Wake's Chauntre and Free School, and at the
confiscation of the chantry lands was continued by the
warrant of the Chantry Commissioners, with a fixed
stipend of £11 charged on the revenues of the Crown.
All trace of a grammar school had disappeared by the
beginning of the 19th century, and the stipend has
ever since been attached to the salary of an elementary
schoolmaster. (fn. 77)
On theinclosure of the parish an allotment of land was
assigned in lieu of lands formerly appropriated to the
repair of the church. The present rental amounts to
about £20.
Jane Leeson by her will proved in 1649 charged
certain lands with payments for the poor of many places
(including £1 10s. a year for Blisworth) to be distributed
by the rector, churchwardens, and overseers of the
several towns and villages. This sum is now distributed
to the poor by the rector and four trustees appointed
by the Parish Council of Blisworth.
Maria Anne Westley by her will proved 3 March
1931 bequeathed the net proceeds of her 3 messuages
to the trustees of the Blisworth Baptist chapel, to apply
the income towards the stipend of the minister of the
said chapel. The endowment is now represented by
£139 11s. 9d. 3½% War Stock.